Weather alerts for the NWS La Crosse WI forecast area

000
FXUS63 KARX 281108
AFDARX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
608 AM CDT Wed Oct 28 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Record high temperatures possible today.

- Strong to severe weather may be possible tonight. All severe
  weather threats (hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes)
  will be possible. There is a slight (2 out of 5 risk) just to
  the northwest of our area. Timing still looks to be from 6 to
  10 pm.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 1247 AM CDT Wed Oct 28 2026

An upper level extratropical cyclone seen lifting north-northeast on 
GOES water vapor imagery loops has begun a more meridional advection 
before it is expected to slide east across the International Border 
with Minnesota, dragging an appendage of mid level vorticity 
advection across the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Resultant 
widespread precipitation chances increase from west to east from the 
late evening into the overnight hours.

Storm Chances Today:

Peak diurnal heating concurrent with location of strongest WAA 
precedent of the frontal boundary remains slightly upstream of the 
forecast area, keeping highest (50%) thunder probabilities upstream. 
Strongest low level winds raise higher severe threat in these areas, 
grazing the western parts of the local county warning area from 
southeast Minnesota into west-central Wisconsin. All hazard types 
will be possible based on long-skinny CAPE profiles resulting in a 
low CAPE, high Shear environment should storms be able to initialize 
in the less hospitable "October" airmass. Local forecast area will 
likely see storms, question of strength and intensity remains in 
question.

Warm Today:

The local airmass will be more resemblant of a late-September 
airmass with daytime high temperatures in the low to mid 70s, likely 
resulting in local climatological warm records being broken.

Precipitation Chances This Weekend & Early Next Week:

Persistently low confident long term forecast remains the trend as 
previous NBM PoPS early weekend have shunted south of the forecast 
area, with LREF agreement increasing for cyclogenesis farther south 
through the central CONUS. Therefore, higher PoPs now pushed into 
Monday through Wednesday instead of through the weekend in 24 hour 
ago forecast.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 607 AM CDT Wed Oct 28 2026

It will be primarily VFR today. 

A cold front will move through the area tonight. There will be 
showers and storms along this line. The storms will affect KRST
between 29.00z and 29.03z, and KLSE 29.03z and 29.06z. A few of
these storms may be strong to severe between 28.23z and 29.04z 
along and west of the Mississippi River. 

MVFR ceilings will move into the area in the wake of this front.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Issued at 1247 AM CDT Wed Oct 28 2026

Record or near record temperatures Wednesday (Record/Forecast):

La Crosse, WI

Date         High Temperature      Warm Low Temperature
-----        ---------------        ---------------         
10/28        75F (1945) / 73F          57F (1881) / 56F               

Rochester, MN

Date         High Temperature      Warm Low Temperature
-----        ---------------        ---------------            
10/28        73F (2024) / 70F          54F (1989) / 54F

&&

.ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WI...None.
MN...None.
IA...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...JAR
AVIATION...Boyne
CLIMATE...JAR